Luis Scola
Luis Alberto Scola Balvoa (born April 30, 1980, in Buenos Aires) is an Argentine professional basketball player who plays at Power Forward and last played for the Brooklyn Nets. He formerly was a Euroleague star with the ACB's Saski Baskonia. He has dual citizenship: Argentine and Spanish.Euroleague.net Player Profile - SCOLA, LUIS. Professional career Argentina Scola started his career with the Buenos Aires youth teams of Ferro Carril Oeste. He made his professional debut with the same club's pro team in the Argentine league during the 1995-96 season. Euroleague Cabitel Gijón After the 1997-98 basketball season in the Argentine League, Scola moved to Spain where he helped the then Spanish League Second Division club Cabitel Gijón achieve promotion to the Spanish League First Division. He then signed with Saski Baskonia, but was loaned back to Gijón through the 1999-2000 season before arriving at Baskonia, where he played for seven seasons. Saski Baskonia With Saski Baskonia, Scola reached the Euroleague final in the 2000-01 season and three consecutive Euroleague Final Fours between 2005 and 2007. His outstanding performances earned him an All-Euroleague Second Team selection in 2005, as well as two All-Euroleague First Team selections in 2006 and 2007. Although Scola did not manage to win the Euroleague championship with Baskonia, he did win with them every major Spanish League title, winning a Spanish ACB League championship in 2002, 3 Spanish Cups in 2002, 2004, 2006, and 3 Spanish Supercups in 2005, 2006, 2007. NBA career In the summer of 2005, the San Antonio Spurs of the National Basketball Association (who drafted Scola in 2002) attempted to negotiate with Baskonia to buy out his contract. After initially throwing around numbers as large as $1.5 million, Baskonia eventually settled on a still higher number of over $3 million for the contract. This made it difficult for Scola to join fellow Argentina national team member Manu Ginóbili in San Antonio because of the NBA's rule which limits teams to paying no more than $500,000 of a player's buyout.Larry Coon's NBA Salary Cap FAQ. July 11, 2007 Scola would have been responsible for paying Baskonia the remaining $2.5 million. When the deal to buy out Scola's contract fell through, the Spurs instead signed an Argentine national team teammate and friend of Scola's Fabricio Oberto. Houston Rockets On July 12, 2007, the Spurs traded the rights to Scola, along with center-forward Jackie Butler, to the Houston Rockets in return for Vassilis Spanoulis, a future second-round draft pick, and cash considerations. He signed with the Rockets soon afterSan Antonio's 2002 draft pick Scola signs with Rockets. July 17, 2007 and his sticky buyout situation was resolved a few days later.Scola buyout issue is resolved. July 17, 2007 Scola signed a three-year contract with the Rockets, at a salary of $9.5 million. Scola placed third in the NBA 2007-08 Rookie of the Year Award votingKevin Durant Named T-Mobile Rookie of the Year. and he was also named to the NBA All-Rookie First Team. On March 13, 2010, he scored a career high 44 points against the New Jersey Nets. ArgeAtine national basketball team With Argentina's junior national teams, Scola won the gold medal at the 1995 South American Cadet Championship, the gold medal at the 1996 South American Junior Championship, the gold medal at the 2000 FIBA Americas Under-20 Championship, and the bronze medal at the 2001 FIBA Under-21 World Championship. As a member of the senior Argentine national team, Scola has won numerous medals: the silver medal at the 1999 South American Championship, the bronze medal at the 1999 FIBA Americas Championship, the gold medal at the 2001 FIBA Americas Championship, the silver medal at the 2002 FIBA World Championship, the silver medal at the 2003 FIBA Americas Championship, the gold medal at the 2004 Olympic Basketball Tournament, the silver medal at the 2007 FIBA Americas Championship, the bronze medal at the 2008 Olympic Basketball Tournament, and the bronze medal at the 2009 FIBA Americas Championship. Scola broke two Argentine records at World Championships during the 2010 edition: top overall scorer (beating Ernesto Gehrmann's 331 points) and most points in one game (scoring 37 against Brazil on the round of 16, therefore beating Alberto Desimone's 35 against Mexico in 1963). Titles and medals Club level *1 Spanish Championship (2002) *3 Spanish Cups (2002, 2004, 2006) *3 Spanish Supercups (2005, 2006, 2007) Argentine national team *1995 South American Cadet Championship - Gold Medal *1996 South American Junior Championship - Gold Medal *1999 South American Championship - Silver Medal *1999 FIBA Americas Championship - Bronze Medal *2000 FIBA Americas Under-20 Championship - Gold Medal *2001 FIBA Under-21 World Championship - Bronze Medal *2001 FIBA Americas Championship - Gold Medal *2002 FIBA World Championship - Silver Medal *2003 FIBA Americas Championship - Silver Medal *2004 Olympic Basketball Tournament - Gold Medal *2007 FIBA Americas Championship - Silver Medal *2008 Olympic Basketball Tournament - Bronze Medal *2009 FIBA Americas Championship - Bronze Medal Awards Club level *Spanish League Rookie of the Year (2000) *Spanish Supercup MVP (2005) *All-Euroleague Second Team (2005) *2× Spanish League MVP (2005, 2007) *2× All-Euroleague First Team (2006, 2007) *NBA All-Rookie First Team (2008) Argentine national team *2000 FIBA Americas Under-20 Championship MVP *2001 FIBA Under-21 World Championship All-Tournament Team *2007 FIBA Americas Championship MVP *2009 FIBA Americas Championship MVP *2010 FIBA World Championship All-Tournament Team NBA career statistics Regular season |- | align="left" | 2007–08 | align="left" | Houston | 82 || 39 || 24.7 || .515 || .000 || .668 || 6.4 || 1.3 || .7 || .2 || 10.3 |- | align="left" | 2008–09 | align="left" | Houston | 82 || 82 || 30.3 || .531 || .000 || .760 || 8.8 || 1.5 || .8 || .1 || 12.7 |- | align="left" | 2009–10 | align="left" |Houston | 82 || 82 || 32.6 || .514 || .200 || .779 || 8.6 || 2.1 || .8 || .3 || 16.2 |- | align="left" | 2010–11 | align="left" |Houston | 74 || 74 || 32.6 || .504 || .000 || .738 || 8.2 || 2.5 || .6 || .6 || 18.3 |- | align="left" | 2011–12 | align="left" |Houston | 66 || 66 || 31.3 || .491 || .000 || .773 || 6.5 || 2.1 || .5 || .4 || 15.5 |- | align="left" | 2012–13 | align="left" |Phoenix | 82 || 67 || 26.6 || .473 || .188 || .787 || 6.6 || 2.2 || .8 || .4 || 12.8 |- | align="left" | Career | align="left" | | 468 || 410 || 29.6 || .504 || .121 || .750 || 7.5 || 1.9 || .7 || .3 || 14.2 Playoffs |- | align="left" | 2007–08 | align="left" | Houston | 6 || 6 || 36.7 || .448 || .000 || .686 || 9.3 || 1.3 || .7 || .2 || 14.0 |- | align="left" | 2008–09 | align="left" | Houston | 13 || 13 || 32.6 || .494 || .000 || .673 || 8.4 || 1.8 || .5 || .2 || 14.4 |- | align="left" | Career | align="left" | | 19 || 19 || 33.9 || .480 || .000 || .679 || 8.7 || 1.6 || .6 || .2 || 14.3 References and notes See also *Photo Gallery - Photos featuring External links *Euroleague.net Profile *NBA.com Profile *Scola NBA Draft Profile at NBA.com *Basketpedya.com Profile *Hoopshype.com Profile *ClutchFans.net Luis Scola Profile @ Houston Rockets Fan Site *ESPN Deportes Interview Category:People born in 1980 Category:Argentine basketball players Category:National Basketball Association players Category:Indiana Pacers players Category:Phoenix Suns players Category:Houston Rockets players Category:Toronto Raptors players Category:Brooklyn Nets players Category:Foreign players drafted in the NBA Category:San Antonio Spurs draft picks Category:Players who wear/wore number 4 Category:Players who wear/wore number 14